The forum opened up opportunities for the Central Highlands provinces to introduce their potential and advantages in terms of agricultural development. This is also a chance to create favorable conditions for domestic and foreign investors and businesses to meet, connect trading activities, and cooperate to develop the production link chain and effectively consume agro-products as well as OCOP products.

Making the opening speech at the forum, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that the Central Highlands had a total agricultural land area of over 5 million ha, accounting for 91.75% of the natural land area, of which 1.3 million ha was basalt red soil. Central Highlands was one of Vietnam’s major agricultural commodity production centers with an abundance of output and a wide variety of agricultural products associated with processing and eco-tourism development.

Central Highlands is blessed with favorable conditions to grow fruit trees, industrial plants, forestry trees, and herbs such as coffee, pepper, avocado, durian, rubber, cassava, timber, and Ngoc Linh ginseng, giving products of high quality, competitiveness and large output. The land also possesses certain strengths in developing large-scale cattle breeding and aquaculture in cold water. The Central Highlands ranks first in the country in terms of output of coffee, pepper, avocado and passion fruit particularly.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that the forum “Central Highlands Connect” would create a new impetus and make an important contribution to the successful implementation of agricultural development goals, tasks and solutions in the locality in the spirit of the Resolution proposed in the 13th Party Congress.

The forum particularly focused on several contents:

- Discuss the promotion of connectivity both inside and outside Vietnam, the expansion of agro-product consumption space and actions to improve the value of agricultural products in the Central Highlands when participating in the global value chain;

- Innovate the development model from breadth to depth with high and sustainable added value;

- Exploit natural resources in line with the protection, conservation and development of agro-ecosystems and traditional culture of the Central Highlands ethnic groups;

- Integrate multivalue in the linkage between Central Highlands provinces and other economic regions along the value chain;

- Promote the application of science and technology, especially high technology and digital technology in production, processing, and consumption;

 - Coordinate inter-regional and inter-provincial agricultural and rural economic development activities.

Speaking at the Forum, Vice Chairman of Gia Lai People's Committee Kpă Thuyen said that “Central Highlands Connect” was an opportunity for provinces and cities to cooperate and further boost the consumption of agricultural products, contributing to the socio-economic development of the province.

At the same time, he believed that the determination and efforts of the Party Committees and authorities at all levels as well as the consensus of the people would make drastic changes in agro-product production and consumption, ensure national defense and security, and create a momentum for quick and sustainable development.

Translated by Samuel Pham